I’m still am not sure what to make of President Barack Obama. I’ve seen some Facebook postings nominating him as the worst president ever, although I don’t think that description fits him. Jimmy Carter still has a firm grip on that honor and I’ve come to the conclusion that President Obama is not Jimmy Carter II.

When the CIA’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” for extracting information from prisoners first came to light, I was outraged. Outrage turned to shame when my government, at the highest level, not only failed to condemn what must be called torture, but actually defended it as a legitimate tool in their War on Terror.

I will be at the Moneta Library from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on June 4 for my quarterly Town Meeting. I hope you will come by to talk about any topic you wish.

The bigger topics might be the budget, real estate assessments and tax bills. The budget has been passed and the funds will be allocated at our first meeting in June. It was a difficult budget year, as you probably saw in the papers. We are not anticipating an easier year next year but there will not be the added complicating factor of the reassessment.

Today, the American people are facing one of the most challenging times in our nation’s history. Our economy remains sluggish, people fear losing their jobs and their homes, and many are worried about the future their children and grandchildren will inherit. They are deeply concerned about the outlook for our great country and wonder if their children will grow up in the same America they did. People are looking for real solutions to the problems we face.

Facebook is turning our world into a small town. From constant streams of useless rumors, to the birthdays of all 975 of your “friends,” the social networking site is building us into a digital community. People are able to log on, post whatever is on their mind about themselves or others, and later face few consequences for clicking “Remove Post,” an action that can erase prior behavior. Let’s see that happen in real life.